This is the primary blog site for all things concerning the college application process and college admissions essays.
One of the things you’ll realize about the Syracuse supplemental essay is that there really isn’t a lot of room to say anything at all. Before we get to the guide on how to write it, we need to discuss why the prompt’s short word limit is important. The entire point of the Syracuse supplemental … Read more
This guide will cover everything you need to know about writing the Villanova supplemental essays. Villanova University is highly competitive. Many students who are accepted have higher marks than the average student. Villanova’s competitiveness plays a big role in just how strong your essays should be. Let’s visualize this below. Villanova University Undergraduate Class of … Read more
People often ask, “How many APs do I need for getting accepted into UCLA?” It’s not easy to quantify how much is “good” and how much you “should” have. This is because when students ask how many APs they need to take for UCLA, they don’t realize that this question is quite problematic. This question … Read more
An old client recently reached out to us a few weeks ago about how to write your college essay about Kpop. It’s not exactly their essay per se. Instead, it was a sibling of theirs who was beginning the college process for the current year. As the turn of a new generation comes to fruition, … Read more
Writing the Dartmouth waitlist letter can be a pain in the *ss. After all, this is your last shot at an Ivy League. Your fate hinges on the next few words you’ll write. It doesn’t help that Dartmouth typically accepts fewer than 10% of students: “zero in some years to dozens in others.” So, that … Read more
Before PenningPapers, I worked as a college admissions consultant for a few years privately on my own. Before that, I worked as a tutor for kids looking to improve their SAT, ACT, and AP Lit/Lang test scores. I still remember what it was like having my pens and pencils stolen every other day —dread, absolute … Read more
If you’ve been waitlisted (or deferred) from Harvard, you may be disappointed, excited, anxious, and perhaps a cacophony of many other emotions in one pot. Before we get to the guide, we want to let you know of a few important things to consider when writing your waitlist letter. Some people who are waitlisted by … Read more
If you were looking for guides on how to write the Cal Poly SLO appeal letter, you might notice that there really aren’t many guides out there on the topic. There may be a few guides out there on forums like Reddit and College Confidential; though, this may leave well-meaning advice subject to arbitrary assumptions … Read more
If you were waitlisted to Northwestern, you may be wondering whether your chance of acceptance is now 0. Though you were not rejected, you’ll be competing against some of the best students in the nation for a spot in one of the best schools. To put it simply, you’ll need to have strong and compelling … Read more
At PenningPapers, one of the questions we are often asked is: “how bad is a W on your transcript?” Remember, a W in your transcript indicates that you’ve withdrawn from a class. You may see in online communities and websites that a W is not as bad as one would think. After all, they do … Read more